Customer Reviews

Introducing NLP

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Please note the title - "INTRODUCING Neuro-Linguistic Programming". In case it isn't clear (as the previous review suggests) this means that the book is an INTRODUCTION to NLP.

NLP has always been based on what WORKS - as established by good old fashioned trial and error - rather than chasing the latest theory. Not surprisingly, then, that has meant that NLP has changed very little over the last couple of decades. Which is why this book still represents an excellent INTRODUCTION to NLP as a whole.

Of course the founders of NLP have now gone off in their own directions - Bandler into DHE(tm) (Design Human Engineering), and Grinder into "New Code NLP" (loosely based on the work of Carlos Castenada and others).

Perhaps equally naturally, they both say they've moved on from what they started out with, but that doesn't rule out, per se, the value of their early work because it was so firmly rooted in EXPERIENCE.

Bandler, for example, now seems to be playing down the concepts of "parts" and the "6 step reframe".
All well and good.
But NLP is about WHAT WORKS FOR *YOU*, and for plenty of other people all this stuff about "parts" (originally derived from the work of Virginia Satir) still works just fine.

So, the long and short of it is, whilst it certainly isn't at the 'bleeding edge', this is still one of the leading INTRODUCTIONs to NLP.
In fact I'd say it is still Number 1.

Important that while many recommend this book as self help such as myself it is important to make a few distinctions. Most self help today is pep talk with a few tips here and there but mostly nice stories that can help you "feel nice" and believe in yourself. This is somewhat differant. This maybe described by some to be a users manual for your brain. The science is derived from "modeling" the communication, verbal and non-verbal, of people who have been highly effective in communication and/or creating change. The science is new and to some that can be less than encouraging, however, having been a skeptic once I will say, IT WORKS! All this book is, is a toolbox, nothing more, of tools. If you do not use the tools, if you do not allow yourself to try new ideas, then this will serve as nothing more than exposure to a growing science. If you do choose to practice these tools, they may not be the most important things that you ever learn in your life, but you may find that they can have a very strong positive impact. Here are some applications:

Learn about subconscious communication which may help you rethink some of the things you say in order to deliver the intended message or to read what others are thinking. This requires a little practice and understand of verbal negation.

Discover a model which I can only describe as a model for inner peace. No, it does not tell you how to do this, it may not even describe it as inner peace but if you have knowledge about happiness philosophy it will make sense. Read the chapter on congruency, I find it inspiring.

Pacing and leading, this will change the way you see what it is to communicate with someone and how interesting a person can become when you first meet them and they tell you, and I get this all the time, "I feel like I've known you forever". That's because I'm modeling what a person does when they are comfortable with someone and have known them for awhile. Believe it or not, you will learn so much about people just by understanding their values, "trance words" or the words they use to describe their stronger feelings, "representational system" visual, audio, kinesthetic, etc., that with some practice you might find that yourself blown away by the results of your higher order communication.

These are a few applications to a few of the tools I use often and this is actually excerped from another review on a time management book where I recommend Intro to NLP and give insight on application:

"Allow your actions become congruent with your values, belief, purpose, whatever. I'm not religious myself but I imagine this can make things a little easier. It discusses "congruency" in a clear concise fashion that will be motivating in itself it's called the Dilt's model I believe. Essentially, if you understand what you want (may require some introspection, you maybe surprised how much we can learn by having a little internal dialog with ourselves) and measure all aspects of it's value relative to you, make some goals, short term, mid term and long term. Simple so far? Okay, to begin everyday, spend time planning your day in a way that reflects your values, i.e. your goals. Every time your doing something, anything, understand why your doing it, why it has value. This book will teach you to "anchor" your goal and it's attached value that it has, to everything you do, down to your valuable leisure time and taking out the trash. Done consistently over a period of time, and this may allow you to reframe the way you think about your opportunities to accomplish your goals how easy it is to "feel good" about your daily routine. Once you do this, which may require you step a little outside your comfort zone, you may find how easy it is to begin to be proactive in all aspects of your life leading ultimately to personal success."

Anyway, these are tools, and if your like me you may be less than fortunate and require someone to recommend this book in order to actually apply the tools but if you can be open minded you might find as I have that it's the book you will recommend more than any other to people you know.

actually excerped from another review on a time management book where I recommend Intro to NLP:

Allow your actions become congruent with your values, belief, purpose, whatever. I'm not religious myself but I imagine this can make things a little easier. It discusses "congruency" in a clear concise fashion that will be motivating in itself it's called the Dilt's model I believe. Essentially, if you understand what you want (may require some introspection, you maybe surprised how much we can learn by having a little internal dialog with ourselves) and measure all aspects of it's value relative to you, make some goals, short term, mid term and long term. Simple so far? Okay, to begin everyday, spend time planning your day in a way that reflects your values, i.e. your goals. Every time your doing something, anything, understand why your doing it, why it has value. This book will teach you to "anchor" your goal and it's attached value that it has, to everything you do, down to your valuable leisure time and taking out the trash. Done consistently over a period of time, and this may allow you to reframe the way you think about your opportunities to accomplish your goals how easy it is to "feel good" about your daily routine. Once you do this, which may require you step a little outside your comfort zone, you may find how easy it is to begin to be proactive in all aspects of your life leading ultimately to personal success.

I know understand myself, and others more than before. If you think this is some book that will help you control people's minds, this isn't what you are looking for. This will help you understand the sub-concious subtleties that everyone has. It also helps you to excersise your brain power to acheive excellence.

I do very highly recommend this book. It is enjoyable to read - considerably moreso than other books of it's kind. From this book you will get a very good background in the field. I believe this book serves much better for background information than to give you a set of techniques... if you want to learn techniques --- DO IT AT A SEMINAR --- nevertheless it is very useful to learn them ahead of time.
This book is a good precursor to The Structure of Magic and Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton H. Erickson, M.D. both by Richard Bandler and John Grinder -- which go much more indepth into the linguistic portions of the NLP model.

It is disappointing to receive the 16th REPRINT of the 1993 edition when the book was ordered only after receiving confirmation that it was "272 pages (May 1, 2000)". There is a new cover now. But the authors haven't continued to live up to their original intention to systematically update this book. "We want to keep it aligned with NLP, which is spreading and shifting its boundaries. By its very nature it will never stay static." (p.xv) Even the bibliography hasn't been updated and the print gets less sharp with so many reprints. The overall content is still valuable as an introduction, covering the early history of NLP, model of communication, representational systems, anchoring, language patterns--Meta Model and Milton Model, values and criteria, modelling and strategies. For the fundamental and most valuable "presuppositions" of NLP, you have to refer to their other book, Principles of NLP. There are many other good and more recent introductions to NLP now, e.g. those by Sue Knight and Carol Harris. This one, however, is a classic reference.

As a registrar on a department of neurology I found out that the given concepts, theories and exercises make a lot of sense to me. NLP and the described theories do in fact reconcile with the brains physiology and function.

This book provides a good overview about NLP and offers also different exercises (which are not recommended to do without supervision since they are very powerful and effective and could do harm if not used properly!) in terms of developing different belief systems and changing representational systems. Very imporant as well at the end of the book the different links, addresses, etc. regarding NLP trainings.

I am convinced that NLP will become a major branch in modern psychology. Good book to start with!

Christian Hohenstein, M.D., PhD

This is one of the most comprehensive overview of the subject of NLP that is available in a single book. The purpose and outcome of the authors are clearly achieved in this material and we can notice that although the language makes the book somewhat overly academic and relatively difficult to understand at some parts, overall, a winner in its class.
Needs further reading to understand practical applications of techniques described therein...the NLP workbook by the same author is a good follow up text.

Of the many books published on Neuro-Linguistic Programming, this version tops the list. I say that because it does such an effective job of simplifying a complex set of processes and helps the reader understand its applications. Bandler and Grinder's earlier publications brought the concept to life; O'Connor and Seymour make it far more usable.

The cool thing about this book is that it is almost a
cookbook full of many different NLP recipies.

For NLP beginners, it's a great place to start. For those
with more experience, it makes a nice motivator and
reminder.

A very good introduction to the major techniques of NLP--almost like a cookbook of NLP. Very easy to follow. But it's just the beginning; don't expect to get the full meaning from just this book, but it's a great start for any beginner. I suggest it as the first book to read on NLP along with Master of the Game